Goshen wins record number of awards from Scholastic Arts

Goshen High School and C.J. Hooker Middle School set a new record for the number of Scholastic Art Awards they received this year. According to the school district, in 2024, Goshen’s entries set a new record that would only last one year, winning eight gold, 15 silver, and 12 honorable mentions. In 2025, the Gladiator artists established a new high in awards received: 23 gold, 24 silver and 38 honorable mentions.

For seniors Lefa Brown and Katie Palau, the recognition reflects hard work they put in every day in Goshen’s art program, the school district shared.

Brown began participating in the art program at Goshen in fifth grade. This year, she was recognized for multiple entries to the Scholastic Arts awards, including a silver award for her piece “Sheryl Crow” in the drawing and illustration category. The work came out of an assignment Goshen’s Chrissy Pahucki gave students: draw a famous person on a map of where that person is from. “Sheryl Crow is from Missouri and I love her,” Brown said. “So I was like: ‘I’ll draw her with pen and ink.’”

Katie Palau has been a part of the art program in Goshen for as long as she can remember. Like Brown, Palau received multiple awards from her Scholastic entries, including a gold award for “Mood Wheel,” a wooden sculpture of herself with an acrylic background and wheels.

“It’s only on wheels because it’s so heavy,” Palau said. “It’s on a gym scooter so that we can slide it around. It’s a big wooden wheel that spins and it stands up and there’s a cut out in front.”

Brown feels like the awards Goshen students won this year through Scholastic are meaningful. “I think it’s getting recognition for your really hard work,” Brown said. “A lot of these pieces that everyone did took three months. I think it’s nice to be recognized.”

“I worked super hard for six months,” Palau said. “It feels really good to have someone recognize it.”

A sampling of the Scholastic award wins can be found below. The full list of winners and their art can be found on the school district website.

American Vision Award

“I am disappointed in you,” Paulette Nedorost, ninth grade, Digital Art.

Gold Award

“Shiny Still Life,” by Hannah Barhorst, 11th grade, Painting.

“Kiowa,” by Kaitlyn Baumgardt, 10th grade, Painting.

“Laila,” by Kaitlyn Baumgardt, 10th grade, Painting.

“Veronica,” by Kaitlyn Baumgardt, 10th grade, Painting.

“Stick and Stab,” by Tahir Bernard, 10th grade, Drawing & Illustration.

“Stressing,” by Ava Carroll, 11th grade, Painting.

“Dream Donut,” by Fiona Corrigan, 11th grade, Painting.

“Bee,” by Alexa Krabbe, eighth grade, Drawing & Illustration.

“Pianissimo,” by Alexa Krabbe, ninth grade, Photography.

“Pebble Donut,” by Michelle Navidad, ninth grade, Painting.

“Hand,” by Onyx Ortiz, 12th grade, Painting.

“Mood Wheel,” by Katie Palau, 12th grade, Sculpture.

“Sunny Rain,” by Gianna Peters, 11th grade, Digital Art.

“Takeoff,” by Riley Quattrini, 12th grade, Photography.

“Family Photo,” by Sabine Sanchezcastellanos, 12th grade, Editorial Cartoon.

“The passage of Time,” by Arianna Tuthill, 12th grade, Photography.

“Working hands,” by Arianna Tuthill, 12th grade, Photography.

“Acrophobia,” by Stefany Vidals Hernandez, 12th grade, Digital Art.

“A day in the school bus,” by Stefany Vidals Hernandez, 12th grade, Digital Art.

“Claustrophobia,” by Stefany Vidals Hernandez, 12th grade, Digital Art.

“Star Poodle,” by Gianna Peters, 10th grade, Film & Animation.

Silver Award

“Moonlit Muse,” by Hannah Barhorst, 10 grade, Digital Art.

“Spiders Touch,” by Tahir Bernard, 10th grade, Drawing & Illustration.

“Sheryl Crow,” by Lefa Brown, 12th grade, Drawing & Illustration.

“Piccolo,” by Ava Carroll, 10th grade, Painting.

“Vase,” by Ava Carroll, 11th grade, Ceramics & Glass.

“B&W,” by Liam Clark, 12th grade, Photography.

“Flat Lay,” by Liam Clark, 12th grade, Photography.

“Odontophobia,” by Fiona Corrigan, 12th grade, Photography.

“Sprinkle Donut,” by Olivia Jiang, 10th grade, Painting.

“Portrait of Mia,” by Onyx Ortiz, 11th grade, Painting.

“Opening Up,” by Katie Palau, 12th grade, Sculpture.

“Hansel and Gretel,” by Savanna Pogoda Martinez, 12th grade Digital Art.

“Balconies,” by Riley Quattrini, 12th grade, Photography.

“Samara Lee,” by Riley Quattrini, 12th grade, Painting.

“Minnewaska,” by Morgan Taylor, 12th grade, Painting.

“Portfolio: Hands,” by Arianna Tuthill, 12th grade, Photography.

“The flat lay of one’s life,” by Arianna Tuthill, 12th grade, Photography.

“AI vs Art,” by Stefany Vidals Hernandez, 12th grade, Editorial Cartoon.

“Opidiophobia,” by Stefany Vidals Hernandez, 12th grade, Digital Art.